Microsoft Solutions Partner with all six designations. Data platforms and BI for organisations in Germany and Switzerland.
Patient data. Client files. Design drawings. Payroll data. For data of this kind, the standard cloud is often not an option. And simply having a data centre in Frankfurt does not make it secure.
Data sovereignty means more than just a storage location. You also need to know what legal obligations your provider is subject to, who has technical access, and how you can demonstrate this to regulators, clients and customers.
These questions should be asked at the start of a data project. If you only ask them after choosing your tools, you’ll end up having to make changes later on.
Law firms, medical practices and consultancy firms must not simply send confidential documents via a cloud service. Local processing and automated anonymisation help to ensure that professional confidentiality is maintained, even when data is analysed digitally.
Your team is familiar with Power BI, but the data must not leave the network. That’s where the Power BI Report Server comes in, or a European alternative such as TARGIT.
Reporting has been carried out locally for years and is due to be modernised without relinquishing control over the data. We are modernising the system either in our own data centre or gradually adopting a hybrid approach.
Data sovereignty is more than just a storage location. We address four questions before deciding on a platform and tools.
| Specification | Classification |
|---|---|
| GDPR: | The legal basis for all personal data within the EU, including the issue of transfers to third countries. |
| Swiss Data Protection Act (revDSG): | applies to organisations in Switzerland and has its own rules regarding disclosure abroad. |
| NIS2: | requires operators of important and particularly important facilities to implement risk management and provide evidence, including for their data platforms. |
| EU Data Act: | makes it easier to switch between cloud providers and thus raises the issue of portability. |
| Professional duties and obligations of confidentiality: | for example, in the healthcare sector, in legal consultancy or in the case of confidential assignments. |
We provide technical and architectural advice. We coordinate the legal assessment with your data protection team and your legal department.
In the Data Strategy Assessment We develop the target architecture and specify which data is stored where and who has access to what.
In the Data Sprint We will implement the platform in a few weeks’ time, including documentation for audit and operation.
Data sovereignty means that you decide where your data is stored, who can access it, who operates the platform, and how you can switch providers. A data centre in the EU only covers the first point.
In everyday language, the two terms are usually used interchangeably. Data ownership emphasises control over one’s own data. Data sovereignty, on the other hand, also encompasses independence from individual providers and legal jurisdictions.
For many types of data, yes; for some, no. The key factors are which jurisdiction the provider falls under and whether your requirements fundamentally preclude external access. We’ll clarify this based on your data classes.
Yes. TARGIT, Microsoft SQL Server with Analysis Services and the Power BI Report Server run entirely within our own data centre, with no external connection if required.
Yes, using the Power BI Report Server. It hosts Power BI reports in your own data centre. However, dashboards, Q&A and real-time streaming are not available there.
From SQL Server 2025 onwards, the Power BI Report Server is already included in the Standard Edition. In Microsoft Fabric, it is only included from an F64 capacity upwards. A Power BI Pro licence is only required for those who publish reports; readers alone do not need one. In addition, server resources and, where necessary, a current version of Windows Server are required.
No. Microsoft Fabric is a cloud-only service. For operation in your own data centre, SQL Server with Analysis Services, the Power BI Report Server or TARGIT are suitable options.
Yes. Language models can be run entirely within your own data centre. This means that documents and data remain in-house, even when using AI applications.
Not necessarily. If you already have a data centre and SQL Server licences, the additional costs are often lower than expected. However, you will be responsible for operations and updates yourself. We have compared both options for your situation.
Not necessarily. An existing platform can often be adapted to meet your data sovereignty requirements. We will determine during the assessment whether it makes more sense to adapt the existing platform or build a new one from scratch.
No. Often, some of the data remains on-premises, whilst less sensitive data is processed in the cloud. We draw the line based on your data classification.
Yes. We work with organisations in Germany and Switzerland and comply with the relevant data protection legislation. Cloud regions in Switzerland are also an option.